From the Community

Congratulations, Jacob! Our whole family is so proud of you and all of the work (and fun!) it took you to get to this moment. You are a calming, snarky, and technologically savvy member of our family. I have no doubt that someday soon you will be out arguing me ;). As you move through this crazy world, remember this quote from The Wire: "You know what the most dangerous thing in America is, right?... A [Black person] with a library card"

- Brother Mouzone I love you to bits,

Your Mama Smash

We're so proud of you!!!

Lisa Nielsen

Congratulations Ashley and all your volleyball buddies and to the entire Frances Parker graduating class of 2020 

 

To Ashley Banks and the entire Graduating class of 2020 from FW Parker my congratulations.

Congrats class of MMXX Have a great summer and on to great days ahead

Congratulations, class of 2020! You all have achieved a benchmark in you life and from here on, it’s up to you how your life plays out. Go forth and make this a better world!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOO MARCELO! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Congratulations to all! There's a new world waiting for you to rebuild! Take it and don't look back! Cheers!

Dear Anna, I can't believe the day has come for your high school graduation. What fun we have had together all these years...pajama parties, swimming, ice skating, miniature golf, shopping, eating, manicures, and Cubs games! I'll miss hanging out with you when you are in Ann Arbor! My heart bursts with pride knowing that you have accomplished your goals and are going to the school of your dreams (even if it IS Michigan ; ) !!). I have loved watching you grow into the amazing young woman you are: committed to doing good in the world, considerate of others, smart, fun and so much more. You've worked very hard to develop your unique talent in photography and I can't wait to see where it takes you next. While your senior year has ended differently than anyone would have imagined, I know your future is so bright and nothing can take away what a truly special person you are. Congratulations, Anna!

Love you so very much!

Auntie (Tony, Drew and Damon, too).

Dear 8th Grade Frasz Advisory, I hold you all dearly in my heart. You were such a fun bunch in Middle School! You are all so talented and extraordinary. I know that you will go on to contribute in many meaningful ways to our world. Stay strong and kind. Go out and have adventures. Keep learning and growing. Discover yourselves and all that you can be. You have certainly left a mark on me, now it's time for the rest of the world to see you.

Take care,

Sra. Frasz

Congratulations class of 2020. Go out there and make a difference make sure that you stay true to yourself stay happy! Stay committed to always doing what brings you joy, and remember never miss a chance to dance!

Mrs. WalkerHarris 

James López

 

4B LOVES our big sister Chloe!!! Dear Chloe- You have been a GREAT part of the Parker senior community! You have been a GREAT Big Sister to 4B! We remember when you took us on our angle hunt around the building! We also LOVED when you took us on a senior tour and took us to your advisory! You got us candy and that was awesome!!! (and then everyone else in the class was jealous and sad--- which was not awesome. but we still enjoyed the candy! hehehehehe! lol!). We remember you told us you might want to be a vet when you grow up. We will think about that for you. We hope you have a GREAT rest of the year! Thinking of you! Love, The CHLOE 4B fan club

 

4C loves our Big Brother, Ale, and so does his Mom, too! Thanks for the
memories of sharing your Pokémon cards with us, playing games like ‘Don’t
Break the Ice,’ and saying ‘Hi!’ during our Google Class Meets. We wish you all the best, Ale!

More sentiments from 4C here.

Sean, Ian and Rohan, The first graders have such fond memories of your visits to our classroom this year. They loved hearing stories about your memories from first grade, learning about your families and interests, and sharing their schoolwork with you. The first graders' favorite memories included walking together in the Halloween parade, playing games with you in the classroom, telling jokes, and having you join in during Spanish class. We wish you all the best in the next chapter of your lives! Thanks for being wonderful Big Brothers! -1B Class

First Graders in 1B

Ashley, Thank you so much for all the help, encouragement and care you showed towards the 2-SW class. They always look forwards to your visits. Good luck with the upcoming school year. Where ever you land, they will be lucky to have you!

 

This was to be a great year in ROV with our wonderful group of 12th grade women. You were our 'founding group'. The ROV team wouldn't exist with out each of you! We will miss you all.

4C loves our Big Sister, Sophie! Thanks for the memories of playing fun games with Smarties and being such a smart, strong woman role model as a great field hockey player!

We wish you all the best, Sophie!

Click here for more.

Cindy Marker

 

Class of 2020, I am sorry that your time in the building was cut short by the pandemic. Your class deserves better. However, I look forward to celebrating your accomplishments in the coming weeks. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your leadership. We have a haunted house at the County Fair thanks to your creativity, you gave Parker an amazing 12 Days and the spirit you brought to the White Out and Blue Out games redefined school spirit for our community. Thanks for being great role models for future classes.

Best,

Justin Brandon

4C loves our Big Sister, Lauren!

Thanks for the memories and being such a smart, strong woman role model as a great field hockey player! We wish you all the best!

Click here for more sentiments from 4C.

Pierce Ashworth is 1J's big brother! Pierce always greets the first graders with a smile and a high five. First graders look up to Pierce-both literally and figuratively! The students of 1J love when Pierce comes to hang out and play games! We are so grateful to Pierce for sharing his time, patience, and kindness with us this year. Some first graders had this to say about Pierce "Nice slam dunk, Pierce!" "Pierce, you're soooo cool!" and "Thanks Pierce for helping us in school!" We will miss you and know you will be amazing in all you do!

Tribute to Kush

4C loves our Big Brother, Kush! Thanks for the memories and making such a strong impression on the fourth graders!

We wish you all the best!

Click here for more sentiments from 4C.

Jon Rauschenberger

Seniors - I miss you so much. I miss running into you in the halls, I miss yelling "Renny" at the top of my lungs and freaking her and the people around her out, I miss walking into my room and hearing the Comedy Club go completely silent, I miss the softball seniors asking me if I'm going to coach, I miss James doing ridiculous voices when we are reading plays, I miss Ale's green muscle shirt, I miss hearing college news from you, I miss the day that you popped my balloons, I miss the debate about who would win - Jeremiah or Max, I miss playing catch with Caroline and almost giving her a concussion, I miss watching self-made Kahoots about your lives (thanks, Andy!), I miss watching Estelle pitching for the seventh consecutive day and Ava showing off her "rocket arm" and all the other softball seniors, I miss talking to Lauryn and taking the serial killer test during "D period," I miss watching you on stage, I miss talking to you in my room about whatever came up, I miss the terrifically bad art that some of you shared with me as we did graphic pages and short stories, I miss all of your smiles and tears and triumphs and accomplishments and ideas and humor. You are an amazing group of people, class of 2020, a group that it has been my immense privilege to get to know and teach over the past four years, and I hope - I know - that this virus won't get you down. Hang in there. We will see each other again and laugh about these days.

Mr. Mahany

Class of 2020. You will forever be remembered as the most astute Class, we, your parents have seen. We applaud your accomplishments. We honor you. We extend our sincerest praise and love to you. You are the Class of 2020.

For Avila

Allan Bennett is our 1st grade class's big brother! Allan truly embodies the title 'Big Brother' and the students light up when he enters the room! Allan, thank you for sharing your enthusiasm, humor, and patience with us. We know that you will go on to do amazing things in this world and we hope you won't forget your first grade buddies. Some of the first graders had this to say about Allan: "Thank you for playing games with me in math!" "You are a great Big Brother", and "Congratulations Allan! Where are you going to college?" Maybe Allan has a first grade buddy that wants to follow in his footsteps!

 

Class of 2020 Count your blessings especially in hard times. Cherish this time with your family and loved ones. And from the “lyrics” “These are the good old days...” And “Long may you run!”

Mark Aymar

The Catoggio family

How can we properly “shout out” the Class of 2020? Like any mathematician, I start by looking at the numbers… I taught 62 of you as 7th graders, 28 of you as freshman, 21 as sophomores, 11 as juniors, 2 of you I got to work with as seniors and  7 of you I never got to teach… Wait, 62 + 28+ 21 + 11 + 2 + 7 does not equal 84 Seniors. Let me try this another way… 7 of you I never got to teach, 33 of you I taught once, 42 of you I taught twice, 1 of you I taught 3 times and 1 of you I taught 4 times… 7 + 33 + 42 + 1 + 1 = 84 seniors… there we go! Ok, no matter how many times I had the pleasure of teaching you personally, I have had the joy of watching your grade every year since I had most of you in my class in 7th grade. When I moved from teaching middle school to the upper school, I was nervous about re-teaching this group. Boy was I wrong to feel that way! I have worked with a different group of you every year since I moved to the upper school and have loved getting to know the class of 2020! You guys really showed me to never let previous experiences define all experiences. I have watched you all continue to grow and mature. I give your class credit for the rejuvenated positivity and optimism felt throughout the hallways of our school this year. Your love for our school, school spirit, optimism, hard work, curiosity, drive and intelligence radiates throughout the community. I am so proud of all of you! My heart breaks that your senior year is cut short, especially because as a class, you still were giving off the vibe that you wanted to be here! I’m still hopeful we will be able to honor and celebrate all of you publicly and in person. I hope as you all move on from Parker, you continue to stay in touch and come back and visit! I know I'll be missing the class of 2020!

Wendy Olt

To the Senior Class of 2020: to have had the unique privilege of knowing you as both a dad and teacher - many of you for fourteen years - has been a joy. But it’s been these last four where I've seen your class take shape into something remarkable. You are courageous, supportive, talented, brilliant, funny, thoughtful, and you look out for each other. Your presence has made our school, and this world, a better place. I grieve with you over the loss of year-end traditions that you’ve looked forward to with such anticipation for so long. Yet this will deepen the resilience that you’ve already found, and I know that you will continue to support each other as you finish out this year and then go on to do great and wonderful things. We love you, we see you, and we support you. Always.

David Fuder

While this isn't the spring of your senior year you guys imagined, I have heard from my Parker sophomore what an amazing senior class the Class of 2020 is. You guys will find your time and way to celebrate your talents, accomplishments and camaraderie. In the meantime, huge congratulations on showing strength and a new form of togetherness as you finish the year.

 
Alice Geene

To our high school seniors, who are leaving this phase of their teen years behind in a way they never expected – I know you are feeling sad about missing the rituals of senior prom, senior pranks, senior nights, and of course, graduation. Hear it from me, as your governor: there’s room for you to feel all the things, big and small. You will get through this, you will talk about this for the rest of your lives, and you will go on to do amazing things. I’m so proud of you.*

Governor J.B. Pritzker
*excerpted from 4/17/20 press conference

Beth Joebgen 

You have been an exceptional senior class. From the beginning of the year, you have led by example, showing us all what it is to be warm, gracious, open-minded, and flexible. We have needed you. You have provided us with a fun new booth at County Fair, highly entertaining 12 Days skits, riveting games, electric matches, and amazing performances. I have laughed, cried (tears of joy), and been in awe of you all year. To be honest, I am in denial that this is your last year - your last few months. I am going to miss you so much... So, I'm not going to think about that now. Instead, I'm going to pretend that the rest of this year is endless (which is easy to do because it has felt that way a bit!). We need more time to celebrate you! Thank you for all you have done and all that you are!

 

It's been amazing watching you grow and mature into free-thinking, kind, thoughtful, clever, funny, beautiful people. The story of the Class of 2020 will be written in history books. In the memories of your parents and teachers you'll always be remembered as a special group, more like a family, a tight cluster of future leaders and humanitarians. Keep shining your light upon us and everyone who crosses your path. We are Parker!!

 

You are indeed an amazing group of young adults. It was my privilege to have taught most of you in the 8th grade. I have so many fond memories of that year including advisory and our trips to Indiana and DC. I have really enjoyed observing your contributions to the Upper School over the last 4 years and seeing the positive impact you have had on our school community. This will be a senior year to remember in so many ways. It certainly isn’t what we expected. You are resilient, creative, intelligent, talented, and have a community of people around you that love and support you. Focus on what is ahead for you and embrace it. I can not think of a better class to be exiting Parker with as I retire. Congratulations and I wish you all the best.

Hello Class of 2020! I hear only good things about you from my sister, and your classmate, Celeste! I hope you are all staying healthy and safe out there. I know this is not the Second Semester Senior experience you were anticipating, and I am sorry you're missing out on it in many ways. May you make the best of a weird situation! Cheering you on! Sending hugs and support! Take care,

Caroline (Class of 2005)

Dear Class of 2020, You will always be a special, diligent and resilient class. You are a class with tremendous gifts; intelligence, athleticism, personally and just great in my eyes. Under the unprecedented circumstances you will become stronger and continue to grow. I wish nothing but the best for you and I just want you to know I will miss you all dearly.

Mr. Banks

 

To the seniors on Parker's girls soccer team: It has been a real joy watching you over the years. I know you were all excited about the spring season and I'm sure it's heartbreaking that you may not be able to actually play together this year. I think we all thought this was the year you'd get past IC Catholic Prep in the playoffs! Despite this disappointment, I hope you can hold in your hearts the camaraderie you had as a team and carry that with you in your life after Parker.

Barry Taylor 

It's lonely without seeing you guys. Plus, you know I'm not good with technology....and worse with trying to keep up with emails!! We miss seeing you guys -- to share a piece of candy -- or a soda -- or an eye-roll! what?! I'm in our attic - which is my "study" (and also my daughter's former bedroom before she went to college, then out and about in the world.) This is where I've spent nearly all of my time the past few weeks - "zooming" about. You can see a tiny bit of it in the video - messy! busy! just like my office at Parker. That's what's going to happen to your bedrooms, you know - your parents will be taking them over --- moving stuff around, storing crap there! I'm just teasing you. It's actually one of my favorite rooms in our house, and it brings back great memories...and once in a while, she actually comes and stays in her old bed!! But this particular time in the senior year is NEVER an easy time for families, as I've mentioned before. So, be kind to your parent(s) and sib(s), if you have some. Be kind to each other and try to be kind to yourself, too. OK? Enjoy your space! And maybe enjoy this little video! Alexis was the director, producer, writer, mixer, etc. I was just trying to hide my front chipped tooth (since it is NOT a medical emergency that can be treated right now....ugh.) Love & hugs to all! You did good, you guys! xo

Susan & CC Team

What can I say? I don't think I could love a class more than I do right now! You have all been so kind, patient, and just wonderful. I miss you so much and please know that I will be here for you well beyond graduation. I will show up to your reunions! I will comment on your Facebook and Insta posts :) and I will always be your reference, back-up plan, and my front and back porch light will always be on!

 

Resilient, strong, creative, intuitive, engaged, flexible, remarkable, ready for this ever-changing and uncertain world! While times are certainly challenging, there is no challenge you as a class can't tackle or take on. We look forward to celebrating with you in person, and in the meantime, cherish the time with the people who are around you now. There is a lot to learn from the times we are all in. Take notes, stay strong, stay healthy. Congratulations to the Class of 2020!

Ruth Jurgensen

Dear Class of 2020! I have wonderful memories of taking Science Trips to Iceland and the Grand Canyon with many of you!!! I so enjoyed teaching you as 9th graders, in Biology, and even chaperoning the Junior Retreat last year and sharing some laughs in the cabin. Psychology was so fun the first semester! (I am glad that I taught you when you were the most motivated!) Also, to my senior advisees, Lauryn, Raven and Sadie, thanks for always being such exuberant, grounded young women who really set a great example for the rest of our advisory and our school. I can't wait to see all the amazing things the Class of 2020 will accomplish! You are a class full of awesome athletes, creative spirits, kind hearts, intellect and humor! I admire the way that you have taken each turn in the road this year in stride. Keep making those tik toks, laughing, and I know that you will leave the world a little better than you found it!

Wow, what a ride it has been, huh?!? And it still continues. You all have grown so much in your four years in the Upper School and it has been truly a privilege observing and being a part of it! You all have grown into the leaders that this Community strives for you to be and we are PROUD! VERY PROUD! You all were my first group as a gradehead and did you ever keep me on my toes! Mrs. Zeller and I often would often say to each other, "One day, it will click, and they will 'get it'." You have done that as a class and have taken on a leadership role and maturity in the Community like I have never seen in my tenure at Parker. I am humbled to be able to work with such a group. Now, a blast from the past: Close your eyes. Rewind back 3.5 years to the Small Cafe, every Wednesday at 10am. What did it feel like? What was occupying your time, thoughts, worries, anxieties? What did you look forward to? What did you dread? How did you feel about your place in the Community or even in the Class of 2020? How does it feel now? Has that changed at all? What has changed? What has stayed consistent? Were the answers to these questions expected or unexpected? Why or why not? I would imagine the answers to these questions are quite personal and will vary from each of you. The answers to all these questions have helped, in part, shape who you are as a young adult and who you will become in the future. As you look forward to a new chapter in your lives, remember to always ground yourself. Remember to call home to your parents. Remember to check in with your closest Parker friends even if they are thousands of miles away. Remember to come back to see us. We will certainly miss you. Congratulations, Class of 2020! We are proud of you!

 

Jacquie and Doug Amacher

To the Seniors in my Advisory: Harrison Radis, Ethan Rosenberg, Kushmir Onisemoh and Jack Laser, I am thinking of you and looking forward to the day we are all back together at Parker. Be well and stay strong.

Terry Davis

This is an extraordinary graduating class. While none of this is what you would have wanted, each of you will use your part in history to change the world for the better. And, you are starting that right now! As silent heroes. #findingrainbows #fwpstrong #changingtheworld #everythingtohelp

I knew you were great, and now I also know you are resilient. While your Senior Year will be memorable in a different way than I had hoped for you, congratulations on ending your high school journey, developing into a Class that we are so proud of, and being the types of Parker graduates who will improve the world through your thoughtfulness, empathy, intellect, skill, and service. Your ability to problem solve, overcome obstacles, handle disappointment, and maintain positivity and community is stronger than ever, and wherever you find yourself next year will be better off because you are there. Congratulations, Class of 2020! Come back often and please don't forget how much your Parker teachers care about you and love it when you stay in touch.

Class of 2020 -- thank you for showing us all what community really means. Can't wait to see how you change the world. #weareinthistogether #classof2020

Martha Gardner